Middle Kingdom
The Middle Kingdom is the fourth period of time during the campaign in . Briefing Background This campaign focuses on Egypt's efforts to reunify the country and increase the wealth of its land after a series of bad floods causes famine across the country. The very first mission takes place during the First Intermediate Period: here, no Pharaoh rules and only war exists. Waset gives the player a simple way to avoid most of the warfare of the Civil War by constructing a brand-new capital city that will serve the country through its period of darkness: there is also a couple of small invasions from rivals. However, if a player feels martial and wants an extreme challenge of military power, Thinis provides a great opportunity to understand the kind of military battles that are played out in this campaign. There are large scale enemy invasions, bribes, extortions and very little money. After fighting through the Civil War, the player is faced with another choice: they can either head to Menat Khufu to develop a huge farming community that will feed the people left starving from the war, or they can head to Kebet to push back the rebellious soldiers of Khmun. Both require the construction of obelisks and both require extremely large settlements of 7000 people: Menat Khufu provides a challenge for limited exports, small flood plains and regular bad floods, while Kebet requires the player to raise a huge army very quickly to deal with large enemy assaults. No matter which mission is selected, you will become the Pharaoh after completing it. With the reunification of Egypt and your families ascension to Pharaoh, it is time to prove to the people that you deserve to rule: constructing Itjtawy is a long effort and it must fulfil its neighbours requests to avoid being attacked by Egyptian cities that don't appreciate your quick ascension to Pharaoh. Proving them wrong and keeping the country happy, while building some monuments to house your remains, gives you a good chance to experience very large city building, for many missions will now require cities of such stature and size. Once Itjtawy is complete, you have choices again: you can either push the borders south into Nubia and establish a presence to hold back the Kushites, or you can establish a Red Sea Port at Sawu, in the East. Iken features some of the largest, and toughest, invasions available, with some challenging map estate to reach the goals, while Sawu features limited resources and a need to import and export extensively to make any money and meet requests of the kingdom. Both missions feature invasions, and each mission contains a parallel to the city that was not selected: for example, Iken will have frequent requests to Sawu for food and resources, while Sawu will feature various militaristic requests to Iken. The final mission is also a choice: once again, you may choose to push the borders south and construct forts to pen back the Nubians at Heh, or you can build a grand and stately city to honour Bast in the Nile Delta at Bubastis. Bubastis provides the player the first city in which Palatial Estates are required, while Heh pushes for a large military force very quickly with limited money-making opportunities. Missions * Mission 17 ** Waset (peaceful) ** Thinis (military) * Mission 18 ** Menat Khufu (peaceful) ** Kebet (military) * Itjtawy * Mission 20 ** Sawu (peaceful, but features low-scale invasions) ** Iken (military) * Mission 21 ** Bubastis (peaceful) ** Heh (military) 04